Dick Cheney, the warmonger, has now written his version of events, IN MY TIME, in which he proudly recounts his role in some of the more egregious activities of the Bush administration. For conservatives, who are quick to call for law and order when people begin to get a little restless over injustices, it is quite astonishing that they are then more than willing to overlook crimes when justified in the name of national security. Torture, for one. Eaves-dropping on private conversations without warrants, for another. Going to war without Congressional approval, on false pretenses, resulting in the deaths of thousands of American military and well more than 100,000 innocent Iraqi citizens. What is needed here is a war crimes trial. But don’t hold your breath. Of course, the fact that Cheney and his cohorts should reach such levels of opprobrium when they are pikers compared with the likes of Hitler, Stalin, and Mao is a positive sign that people are less susceptible to their manipulation and less willing to risk their lives to settle disputes their leaders could not settle themselves. This is a tendency that will grow until before long leaders will find that their declaring war doesn’t necessarily mean that anyone will show up to do the fighting. Leaders can’t fight wars by themselves. And that’s a good thing.

Until then, here’s what Bob Dylan thinks of Cheney and pals: “Masters of War“